6 BUTTERFLIES, JELLYFISH, MUSHROOMS, AND UNATTAINABLE GOALS: NATURE IS BIGGER THAN OUR KNOWLEDGE

In 1961, US mathematician and meteorologist Edward N. Lorenz was working at MIT in Cambridge on an atmospheric circulation model with twelve variables and three nonlinear differential equations. His computer at the time solved the equations with approximate values to the sixth decimal place, but was able only to print out the first three. Lorenz entered tabulated numbers with three digits as input instead of all six for the next round of the simulation. He popped downstairs for a coffee and came back an hour later. To his surprise, on the screen, he saw that the system had evolved in a completely different way. The weather simulation had advanced to two months later, and where before the sun was shining, now there was a thunderstorm raging.